True Detective series review

Lazy Film Critic reviews:

True Detective is an HBO anthology series, starring Matthew Mcconaughey & Woody Harrelson, and the first season follows two detectives on a 17-year hunt for a serial killer. Now, the reason why I say season 1 is because this is an anthology series, so season 2 will have a completely different cast, new characters, and a new plot. But, for now, let's talk about season 1.

What I really love about this show is the atmosphere. Every scene is incredibly surreal, it gets you interested. The world in the show is amazingly crafted, you can tell just by watching a few episodes that every single aspect was practiced, inspected, and worked until it was just right. And it most certainly pays off.

The acting is also outstanding, especially from Matthew Mcconaughey. Woody Harrelson has already established himself as a great actor with Natural Born Killers & Zombieland, but Mcconaughey really comes out of his shell with this show. Yeah, even after his amazing performances in both Mud & Dallas Buyers Club, apparently there was even more unshown talent from him. This is by far his best performance in any of his works, you barely even notice that it's him. And no, I don't mean he has a lot of makeup on, I mean this is one of those Gary Oldman level performances where he becomes the character to such an extent that I have a lot of trouble remembering there's an actor behind all this.

One of the things I love so much about this show is that there is absolutely zero filler. Most tv shows have to fill multiple seasons with the same story, so you get a lot of episodes that are just there so the company meets the quota. Even the best of shows do this, even Breaking Bad did this a lot. But not this show, every scene is important.

Not just that, but the episodes cover a lot of ground. For example, there's one episode where Mcconaugheys character goes undercover into a biker gang. Most shows would have this sub-plot last half of a (if not an entire) season. But, this show starts, archs, and concludes that sub-plot in one half of an episode. Normally, this would seem rushed. However, in this show it completely works.

Final Rating
True Detective is one of the greatest series ever put on TV. The acting is astounding, the score is brilliant, the cinematography is very well done, and this all comes together for a great 8 episodes. If you get HBO, I seriously recommend you find a way to watch the show. If not, get it on dvd as soon as it comes out. (netflix doesn't show HBO programs so it's not really an option here.)

True Detective: 5/5